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Ninety years ago, the first three Puerto Ricans, members of the class of 1920, enrolled as students at MIT. This simple event marked the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship. The list of MIT graduates includes some of the iconic names of Puerto Rican industry and commerce: Ferré, Roig, Serrallés, Carrión. MIT alumni and alumna have gone on to excel in every area, from politics to academia, business to medicine, and, of course, engineering. Puerto Rican alumni have also contributed much to the MIT community, most visibly by funding the construction of the Sala de Puerto Rico in the Stratton Student Center in the early 1960’s.
Fortunately, the number of Puerto Rican students enrolled at MIT has steadily increased since those early years. So much so, that in the early 1980’s they saw the opportunity, and the need, to form their own student organization. This effort led to the founding, in October 1981, of the MIT Association of Puerto Rican Students, known as APR to its members. Twenty-seven years later APR continues “to improve the quality of life for all Puerto Rican students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and to promote the Puerto Rican culture through social and cultural activities.”
In celebration of these accomplishments, the Puerto Rican alumni of MIT gathered for a reunion in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 21 and 22, 2003. This event was a great success, with over 100 people in attendance.